


you're so gorgeous in the rain

by DragonsAndCryptids



Series: FT one-shots [5]
Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Bisexual Lucy, Compulsory Heterosexuality, F/F, Fluff, Little bit of angst, Post-Canon, Sexuality Crisis, for lucy and juvia, gray is also an idiot who means well, he's just a bit nosy, lesbian juvia, natsu is a dumbass but he means well, one sided nalu, poor juvia she's not having a fun time
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-06
Updated: 2021-01-06
Packaged: 2021-03-16 22:34:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,866
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28589625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DragonsAndCryptids/pseuds/DragonsAndCryptids
Summary: One impulsive decision with Cana results in Lucy coming to some revelations, and not any she particularly wants to deal with. Adding in Natsu's strange way of dealing with anything, and whatever is going on between Gray and Juvia, she's going to have a rough few days.But maybe it will end with something nice.
Relationships: Lucy Heartfilia/Juvia Lockser
Series: FT one-shots [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1618369
Comments: 6
Kudos: 34





	you're so gorgeous in the rain

**Author's Note:**

> I don't write for Lucy or Juvia very often, so I'd been wanting to write something for them recently anyways, and I've gotten some questions about my lesbian Juvia headcanon the past couple days, so... here you go! Have some wlw content!

It started because Lucy kissed Cana. 

Which was… strange, to say the least. If anything, that should have made her like  _ Cana, _ right? But that wasn’t what happened. 

It was just some stupid thing. She’d been over at Cana’s, to complain about Natsu, and she’d ended up getting a little tipsy. 

“I just… I don’t  _ get _ it,” she whined, leaning against her friend and taking another drink from her beer. “I’m pretty sure even if I actually confessed, he wouldn’t realize what was going on.” 

“Mm, probably not,” Cana agreed. “He’s a fucking idiot. And not to like… make you feel worse, but he almost definitely doesn’t feel the same way.” 

“Why do you think I haven’t told him?” Lucy grumbled, glaring down at her bottle. She wasn’t quite sure  _ when _ she realized she liked Natsu, maybe sometime during the year they were separated, and she realized how much she hated not seeing him everyday. But Cana was right. He wouldn’t give her the time of day, just because that’s how Natsu  _ was.  _

“You just need to get over him!” Cana exclaimed as she slung her arm over Lucy’s shoulders. “You want me to set you up with someone? Or maybe you should finally call Loke up!” 

Lucy set her bottle on the coffee table and crossed her arms. “No…” She didn’t want to get Loke’s hopes up, because while he was certainly just flirty in general, she was pretty sure he really did have a thing for her, and she would feel guilty for using him like that. And she definitely didn’t want Cana trying to set her up with someone she didn’t know. Or worse, someone she  _ did _ know and making it awkward between them. 

But… a distraction would be nice. 

“Can I kiss you?” she asked. 

Cana’s eyebrows shot up, but then she shrugged. “Sure, why not?” 

* * *

So Lucy had kissed Cana. She wasn’t even sure if she would call it  _ making out, _ it hadn’t gone that far. And while Cana certainly didn’t act any different or make it weird, Lucy still found herself blushing every time she tried to talk to her friend after that. 

There were also… other things, that she’d begun to notice. Like the way her heart skipped a beat when Erza wore certain armors. And how soft Levy’s lips looked. Mirajane jokingly blew her a kiss one day, and Lucy thought that she might just die. 

“Hey, Erza?” she asked one night, while they were out on a job. The hotel they were staying at was rather cheap, so they’d made the boys get their own room. 

“Huh?” Erza leaned out of the bathroom doorway, her toothbrush hanging from her mouth. 

“You… You like… girls, right?” Lucy wanted to smack herself as soon as she asked.  _ Obviously _ Erza was attracted to women, she was  _ dating Mirajane.  _

“Yes, I do,” she said, not bothering to point out how dumb the question was, thankfully. She turned to spit her toothpaste out, and seemed to think that question was the end of it. 

“Um, how… did you know?” Lucy asked. 

Erza hummed as she walked out of the bathroom, buttoning up her pajama top and then flopping down onto the other bed, where Wendy and Charle were already curled up asleep. “I don’t think I ever had a moment where I realized it,” she finally said. “I always thought women were more attractive than men, and then one day someone said girls could date each other, and I just went from there. It always made more sense to date another girl.” 

Erza, bless her, still didn’t realize why Lucy was asking about this. 

“Oh, okay then.” Lucy laid down on the bed, and interlocked her fingers behind her head. Unfortunately, that didn’t really help. She definitely didn’t relate to that. Sure, maybe  _ recently _ she’d been admiring women, but she still thought men were attractive too. Maybe she should ask Cana… but then… kissing her would  _ probably _ get brought up, and she wasn’t sure if she wanted that. 

Besides, if she was so convinced that she liked Natsu, what did it matter, anyways? 

She didn’t get much sleep that night. 

* * *

“Gray!” 

Lucy winced as Juvia ran towards them, smiling and waving. 

“How was your job?” she asked, bouncing a little on her feet. “Juvia was upset that she couldn’t go with you!” 

“It was fine,” Gray mumbled, brushing past her, like he wanted to get away from her as quickly as possible, not that Lucy could blame him. Natsu was quick on the ice mage’s heels, still trying to keep the argument they’d been having the entire way back going. 

“Nice to see you, too, Juvia,” Erza said with a smile, reaching out to pat the other woman on the head. 

Juvia pouted, and attempted to chase after Gray, but Erza grabbed her by the back of her dress, halting her in her tracks. “I’ve been meaning to talk to you, actually.” She began dragging Juvia outside of the guildhall. “We can do it right now!” 

“Wha—” Juvia’s eyes widened, and even she was smart enough not to try and escape the redhead’s iron grip. “What did Juvia do?” 

Honestly, Lucy had no idea what that was about, but Erza was out the door, still dragging Juvia with her, before she could ask. 

* * *

It was raining when Lucy walked to the guildhall the next morning. Not a storm, by any means, but it was heavy enough that she was reluctant to leave her house. However, she didn’t want to wallow at home all day, alone, thinking about her current… sexuality crisis, if she was being honest with herself, so she made herself go. 

“Lucy!” Natsu ambushed her the second she walked through the door. “We should go on a job!” 

“Uh… alright.” She supposed her rent was going to be due soon. “Where’s Erza and Gray? And Wendy?” 

“Erza and Gray left without me!” he whined, shifting his weight from foot to foot, like he wanted to take off running. “The bastards!” 

“Oh… that’s… weird,” Lucy admitted. She couldn’t remember the last time just Erza and Gray had gone on a job alone. She couldn’t remember the last time they hadn’t all gone on a job  _ together. _ Ever since Alvarez, they’d been doing pretty much everything they could together. 

“So let’s go!” Natsu exclaimed, grabbing her hand and dragging her out the door, with Happy bounding after them. 

“Natsu, Natsu, wait I need to pack if it’s an overnight thing!  _ Natsu!”  _

* * *

“Hey, Natsu?” Lucy shifted uncomfortably as she stared into the fire. Was she really going to do this? If it went wrong… well, quite honestly Natsu would probably forget about it within a week, but it was still nerve wracking. 

(And honestly, she might just be trying to distract herself from her issues with women at this point). 

Natsu dropped Happy, they’d been bickering about something she hadn’t been paying attention to, and turned his attention to her. “Yeah, Luce, what is it?” 

“Do you… do you ever think about dating?” she forced out. 

Happy clapped his paws over his mouth and snickered, while Natsu’s eyes widened, before he said, “What in the hell are you asking about something like that for, Lucy?” 

She rubbed her upper arm, and began to wish she could just melt into the ground. She really shouldn’t have brought this up. She wasn’t ready, and the idea of dating her clearly had never even crossed Natsu’s mind. “I… I just… you know, we’re almost twenty now. Erza started dating Mira, and—” 

“Nah, dating’s stupid,” he said with a shrug. “I got better things to do.” 

Happy glared at Natsu and shook his head, and Lucy realized the cat probably already knew exactly what was going on, which didn’t make her feel any better. 

“W-Well I mean, everyone needs to start dating someone eventually,” Lucy pressed. “Don’t you have anyone you want to date?” 

Natsu threw his head back and laughed. “‘Course I don’t! Who the hell would I even date? I got you, and Happy, and Erza, and Gray… don’t tell him I said that, and that’s all I need. Besides…” He leaned back to rest his weight on the palms of his hands. “I don’t wanna get married or date anyone anyways. Doesn’t seem very fun.” 

“Natsu, really?” Happy asked incredulously. 

“What?” He shook his head, not understanding that Happy wasn’t necessarily criticizing his thoughts on dating. “It’s the truth!”

“So you’d never wanna date me…?” Lucy whispered, but of course, with his heightened senses, he was easily able to hear the comment, even across the fire. 

“Hell no!” he said with a grin. “You’re one of my best friends, I don’t wanna change that! That’d just be weird! I—” 

_ “Natsu!”  _ Happy exclaimed. “Stop talking!” 

“Huh?” Natsu’s eyebrows pinched together. “But she asked!” 

Happy shook his head and sighed. “You really are hopeless sometimes…” 

Lucy blinked back tears. Of course, this was exactly what she had expected, but it still hurt to actually hear it  _ from _ Natsu. “I… I think I’m gonna go ahead and go to bed. Goodnight Natsu, Happy.” 

After she settled into her sleeping bag, she heard Happy fiercely command, “Apologize to her!” 

“For  _ what?” _ Natsu demanded. 

Lucy pulled the sleeping bag over her head and hoped Natsu was too dense to realize she was crying. 

* * *

It was still raining when they got back to Magnolia. If Lucy didn’t know any better, she’d say it was raining even harder. Water ran down the cobblestone, settling in wide puddles. 

“That’s weird…” Happy said. “It usually doesn’t rain for so long.” 

Lucy pushed her soaked hair away from her face. She was lagging behind Natsu and Happy by a few paces, not quite sure she was ready to have a normal conversation with Natsu. Of course, the dragon slayer hadn’t brought up their conversation from the previous night. Lucy wasn’t even sure if he ever actually noticed there was something weird about it. For the most part, she was relieved. That last thing she wanted was to make things awkward between them. But it also hurt that Natsu didn’t even realize she was upset about something. 

They shuffled into the guildhall, and Natsu disappeared somewhere pretty quick. Probably to go get food or something, so Lucy went to sit in the corner and stew in her misery for a little while longer. 

* * *

“You know, he’s not as clueless as he seems.” 

Lucy looked up from her book, just in time for Gray to sit at the table across from her. “Huh?” 

“You tried to tell Natsu that you liked him,” he said, crossing his arms and leaning back in his seat. 

A slight heat spread across Lucy’s cheeks, and she blew out a shaky breath. “How’d you know? About any of this?” She’d never even told Gray that she had a crush on Natsu, let alone that she’d confessed, or at least tried to. She hadn’t told  _ anyone _ yet, despite it being three days ago, and she doubted Happy would spread it around, even if he could be a little tactless at times. 

“It was obvious you liked him,” he said. “Even if you tried not to show it. And I know… because Natsu told me.” 

_ “He _ told you?” Lucy demanded. That meant that Natsu—!? 

“Look, Lucy, I’ve known Natsu a really long time now. It’s useless,” he said, before sighing and shaking his head. “I’m not trying to be mean, it’s just the truth.” 

“But— But he—” she stammered, still trying to wrap her head around the fact that Natsu had known  _ exactly _ what was going on, but had just decided to play dumb. Did he dislike her that much? So much that he couldn’t even be honest with her and just tell her that he wasn’t interested? Why’d he have to do it like  _ that? _

“He’s a fucking idiot, don’t get me wrong,” Gray continued. “In my opinion, the bastard should have been upfront with you, but he figured it’d make it less awkward for  _ you _ if he went about it this way. But I figured you deserved an actual explanation. Just don’t tell him it came from me.” 

Lucy’s frown deepened. “What are you talking about?” 

“A couple years ago, we had a little fling,” Gray said. “It actually wasn’t too long before you joined.” 

“Wait,  _ what!?” _ Lucy demanded, slamming her book shut and leaning across the table. How the  _ hell _ had she never heard about this!? “So Natsu’s gay?” Why wouldn’t he just  _ tell _ her that? 

“No, I don't think so, and one else knew. It only lasted a couple months,” he said with a shrug. “And you better not tell anyone either, or tell Natsu that I told you. I don’t wanna deal with it, from Natsu, or anyone else in the guild.” 

“So why  _ are _ you telling me?” Lucy asked. 

“Natsu doesn’t date,” Gray said simply. “I don’t want you wasting your time pining after him. You’re both close friends of mine, and I don’t want to watch you two fall apart over something like this.” 

“But—” 

Gray shook his head. “Natsu’s the one who broke it off with me. I mean, I wasn’t too broken up about it. Obviously it wasn’t serious, and looking back on it, it was for the best for both of us. His reasoning was that he just didn’t feel any different towards me than he ever had, or anyone else he knew. He basically did the same thing with Lisanna a couple years before, you can ask her about it, if you like. They didn’t exactly hide their relationship the same way we did. He told me what he told you, and I guarantee you that was his weird way of… I don’t know, trying to dissuade you without making it obvious or hurting your feelings. But I think that was stupid, and he should have been upfront with you.” 

“So he… he really just doesn’t… feel that way about anyone?” Lucy asked. Sure, she’d never  _ heard _ Natsu talk about anyone in that way. She’d never even noticed him checking people out or anything like that, so what Gray said  _ did _ make sense, but… 

“I mean, I don’t know. I’m not Natsu, I can't speak for him,” Gray said. “But honestly, I don’t think  _ he _ even knows what he is. If I had to guess, I’d say he was at least ace, maybe aro, too. But you know him. He’s not ever going to think about it.” 

“Oh…” So it really  _ wasn’t _ just her. She’d never had a chance. Gray and Lisanna hadn’t either. “I guess that makes sense.” And it did. She just wished that Natsu had told her. 

But… if Gray was right and Natsu really didn’t know himself, she supposed she couldn’t blame him for that. Especially considering her own sexuality crisis that she had refused to tell anyone about so far. 

“Yeah. So don’t take it too personally,” Gray said. “He doesn’t hate you, and he just didn’t want to make it worse for you or embarrass you or anything. I had just noticed you’d been avoiding him the last couple days, and thought… well I don’t know. I hate getting involved in this kind of thing, but I figured I was the only one who might actually be able to explain some things to you.” 

“Yeah… well thank you,” Lucy said. “I appreciate it.” It didn’t necessarily make her feel  _ better _ about it, but it was nice to have an actual explanation. 

Gray grunted, and moved to get up, before Lucy said, “Hey… can I ask you about something?” 

Gray’s eyebrows knitted together, but he sat back down. “Uh, I guess? About what?” 

“S-So… if you dated Natsu… you like guys, right?” she forced out. Of all people she had  _ ever _ considered actually talking about this with, Gray wasn’t one she had imagined, but she was going to do it before she lost her nerve. 

“Well yeah, I’ve never exactly kept that hidden,” he said. 

“You haven’t?” she couldn’t help but asked.  _ She’d _ certainly never noticed.

“No…?” 

Lucy shook her head, deciding not to dwell on that. Gray was a fairly private person, so his idea of being open about something basically just meant not lying about it if asked, not actually  _ bringing it up. _ “So… um… hypothetically… if someone was wondering if they were… if they were bisexual…” 

“Ah.” Gray figured it out in an instant. “So that’s what made you finally decide to confess, huh? You panicked.” 

“I—! I didn’t—!” 

“Hey, I don’t mean anything by it.” He raised his hands in surrender. “I basically did the same thing. I spent a little too long staring at Laxus when I was thirteen and then immediately asked Cana if she wanted to make out with me, just to make sure I still liked girls.” 

“Does she just make out with everyone? She’s the one who started this!” Lucy exclaimed. 

Gray snorted with laughter. “Yeah, if they’ll let her. So you think you’re bi, huh? I mean, it’s not surprising. I thought you might be when you first joined, from the way you were always checking Erza out.” 

“I wasn’t— She’s just very pretty! It wasn’t— I wasn’t—” She groaned and flopped down against the table. “Yeah, I think I’m bi.” 

“Well… I’m glad I could help?” Gray said. “Was that all you needed?” 

“I… I guess…” Lucy said. “I just… need a minute.” Obviously, it wasn’t that she had any issue with being bisexual. Most of her friends were, evidently. It… it was just a little shocking… she’d never actually considered dating a woman, but… 

“Yeah, alright,” Gray said. “I’m just gonna—” 

“Hey, why’d you and Erza go on that job by yourself?” Lucy asked, sitting up straight again, just wanting another conversation to distract her from the revelation that she’d finally accepted. 

Gray groaned. “She… she did me a favor, so I did one for her. It was a job request specifically for her, but she didn’t want to do it alone, but it really wasn’t meant for a team, so…” 

“Oh. Okay. What’d she do?” she asked. Maybe she was being nosy, but she really didn’t care. Besides, Gray kind of  _ was _ the one who had decided to insert himself into everything that was going on with her and Natsu. Sure, she was glad he had, but still. 

“She… talked to Juvia for me,” he said. 

“Huh?” 

“Look, she just wasn’t taking no for an answer,” he said. “I’ve never been interested in her in that way, and I highly doubt I ever will be. It was getting annoying. Hell, it’s  _ been _ annoying for a while now. And it’s not just me, I felt bad that she was wasting so much of her life on me. But she just wouldn’t take no for an answer from me. So Erza talked to her.” 

_ “Ooohhh…”  _ Lucy suddenly remembered Erza dragging Juvia out of the guildhall the other day. “Guess that’s why it’s been raining non stop, isn’t it? You think that finally got through to her?” 

“God, I hope so,” he grumbled. “And yeah, probably is why it’s fucking pouring.” 

“Yeah…” Lucy drummed her fingers against the table. “Well, I’m glad that got worked out for you. And thanks for… all of this.” 

“Yeah, no problem.” 

* * *

The rain continued for another week. People were starting to complain now, though no one seemed to have linked it to Juvia yet, except for Lucy, Gray, and Erza, that is. Juvia had also been staying away from Gray, and he’d been more at ease than Lucy had seen for a while now. She was happy for him. 

Lucy had stopped avoiding Natsu. After talking with Gray, it was a lot easier to accept that her crush on him was never going to go anywhere. She hadn’t necessarily just suddenly stopped liking him, that wasn’t how those things worked, after all, but well… If Natsu could pretend everything was normal and keep their friendship intact, then Lucy could do the same thing. 

* * *

Lucy opened her umbrella, ready to head home for the night. She was one of the last ones to leave, staying at the guild with Cana until Mirajane cut her off. She’d decided to go ahead and come out to her and Levy. They were two of her closest friends, and she figured a good way to prepare herself before she told Natsu and Erza. Of course, they’d both taken it fine, considering they were both bisexual themselves, but it was still refreshing. Cana had laughed and figured out pretty quickly it was their kiss that had started all of this. 

Anyways… She was ready to head home, before she saw someone sitting on a bench outside the guildhall, letting themselves get completely soaked. “Juvia?” she asked, slowly approaching the other woman. 

She looked miserable. Dark circles were smudged beneath her eyes, like she hadn’t slept in at least a few days. Her hair was messy and tangled, and she was soaked to the bone. Sure, she might have been the one causing the rain, but that didn’t mean it didn’t make her look any less sad. 

“Geez…” Lucy sat down next to her, close enough that her umbrella could cover her. Lucy  _ supposed _ she could understand why Juvia was so upset. After all, she’d been trying to convince Gray to love her for years now. Lucy may not have always approved of the ways she’d gone about it, but she could sympathize all the same. But having said that… She couldn’t say she could condone sitting out in the rain like this, just because she was upset. “Juvia, you really should go home. This isn’t healthy.” 

“Juvia’s sorry…” Juvia murmured, ducking her head and letting her wet hat slide further down her brow. “I don’t mean to make it keep raining.” 

“I figured,” Lucy said. “But you know, I like the rain. It’s relaxing. Especially when you have a good book to curl up with!” She smiled at the water mage. 

Juvia didn’t return it. She was silent for a moment, before saying, “I didn’t know I was upsetting Gray so much…” 

Lucy had no idea how she  _ didn’t, _ but then again… she could be a little clueless at times. That didn’t make it okay by any means, but obviously… Juvia had a hard time socializing, and it had carried over to her trying to show Gray her affections. “Yeah… you know it’s not the end of the world that he doesn’t love you like that, right?” 

Juvia pulled her knees up, and pressed her forehead against them. 

“I tried to tell Natsu I loved him, you know?” Lucy said, admitting it to the first person since Gray. “But he wouldn’t give me the time of day!” 

Juvia glanced over at her, the raindrops glittering on her pale skin, and the moonlight reflecting in her wide, blue eyes. She really was gorgeous. 

_ Dammit, not now! _ Lucy told herself. Quite obviously, Juvia had no interest in women. And even if she did, now wasn’t the time for that. Lucy still wasn’t sure if she was completely over Natsu yet, and obviously, Juvia was  _ not _ over Gray. 

“But it’s okay,” Lucy continued. “I can still be friends with him, and I can always find someone else. And you can, too.” 

Slowly, Juvia shook her head. “No, I won’t.” 

“You  _ will,” _ Lucy insisted. “You’re beautiful, and kind, and sweet, and talented. Any man would be lucky to have you!” 

She swore Juvia might have flinched, but it was so subtle that she couldn’t be certain. 

“I know it may feel like the world is ending now,” Lucy blazed on. “But I promise it’s not. You’ll be okay. And you’ll find someone even better than Gray. He’s not that great, you know,” she said with a teasing smile. 

“B-But Juvia’s never liked another man.” She dug her fingers into the fabric of her dress. “If… if Gray doesn’t… if he doesn’t… I don’t know  _ what _ I’ll do.” She sniffled, and reached up to wipe the snot dripping from her nose away with her sleeve. “I’ll b-be alone forever. Because I can’t— I don’t—” 

“Oh, Juvia…” Lucy wrapped her arm around the other woman’s shoulders and tugged her closer. “That’s not true. I promise it’s not. There’s a guy out there that will love you so much.” 

“But what if  _ I _ don’t love him?” she whispered. 

“Huh?” Lucy narrowed her eyes. “I know you think you’ll never get over Gray, but—” 

Juvia’s entire body tensed. “I-I-I don’t think I… What if I never loved him either?” 

The pitter patter of rain was all Lucy could hear, drowning out everything else. “Juvia… what do you mean?” She didn’t understand.  _ Everyone _ knew how in love she had been with Gray. 

“Juvia thinks she was relieved when Erza told her to leave Gray alone…” By now, she was clutching at her dress so tightly that her knuckles had turned white. “But I don’t know  _ why! _ I thought I loved him! If I was ever going to love a man, it would be him! Why couldn’t he love me? Why couldn’t I love  _ him?” _ Tear drops dripped down her cheeks. “I-I-I don’t understand!” 

Lucy had scarcely heard someone sound so confused, so upset, and she  _ hated _ it. Especially coming from Juvia, who had always seemed so sure of herself. She tossed her umbrella to the side, and yanked the water mage into a tight hug, letting herself get soaked from the rain and Juvia’s waterlogged clothes. “Oh, Juvia…” 

“I thought I’d finally found someone…” she continued, her voice soft in Lucy’s ear. “When he saved me… he was so perfect… I thought I’d love him for sure… Lucy… Lucy what if I lied? I’ve been lying for so long…” 

“You weren’t lying,” Lucy assured her, softly stroking her hair. “You… you were just confused.” 

“Am I a bad person?” she asked, going limp in the celestial spirit wizard’s grasp. 

“No, no, no, of course not, Juvia,” Lucy said. 

“I hurt Gray, I lied to everyone about loving him, just to… just to try and convince myself… and now I’m making it rain again…” 

Lucy took a deep breath. “You can’t help the rain. It’s okay. And it stopped once before, I’m sure you can stop it again. And…” She clutched her tighter. “Juvia… why did you think you  _ had _ to love Gray? That you’ll never love another man?” 

Juvia grabbed at Lucy’s shirt. “I’ve never l-liked men… Tried to kiss Gajeel once, hated it.” 

“Well…” Lucy couldn’t help but chuckle. “I think most people would hate that.” 

“When I was a little girl, there was a girl who lived next door… I k-kissed her once, I think I was twelve… m-my father didn’t like it when he found out…” she whispered. 

Lucy’s heart broke. She wondered if Juvia even  _ realized…  _ “You like women.” 

Juvia whimpered. “It doesn’t matter, maybe Juvia will find a man even better than Gray, one she could actually love!” 

“I don’t think you will…” Lucy said softly. “But that’s okay, Juvia. I promise it is. No one here cares. It’s okay… it’s  _ more _ than okay to like other women. Erza likes women, Mirajane likes women, so do Levy and Cana and Lisanna and Evergreen. So do  _ I.”  _

Juva jerked back, and stared up at Lucy with glistening eyes. “Y-You do?” 

Lucy nodded. “Yeah, I do. I didn’t start figuring it out until a few weeks ago, though. But I  _ promise _ you, it’s okay. You don’t need to force yourself to love a man. Please don’t do that to yourself.” 

Lucy swore the rain wasn’t coming down as heavy anymore, but she didn’t comment on it. 

Blush spread across Juvia’s cheeks, and she finally pulled out of Lucy’s embrace. “I…” She reached up to cup Lucy’s cheek. “Thank you, Lucy…” 

“You’re welcome, Juvia,” she said. “I just want you to know that you’re perfect the way you are. That you’re beautiful. And that it’s perfectly okay if you’re a lesbian.” 

The rain faded to faint sprinkling, and the starlight broke through the clouds. Juvia pulled Lucy closer. “Juvia thinks you’re very pretty, Lucy.” 

“O-Oh… well…” Lucy stammered, feeling heat rush across her cheeks. 

“I-I understand if you… if you think I’m just… just trying to see… to distract myself… I’m sorry… I don’t mean to do that…” she said. 

Lucy placed her hand over Juvia’s, and pressed it firmer against her cheek. “It’s okay. I don’t think that at all.” 

Juvia leaned over, and pressed a soft kiss to Lucy’s other cheek. Her lips were cool against her burning blush, and the last of the rain disappeared. 

“Thank you, Lucy… Thank you…” she repeated against her skin. 

Lucy pulled back so she could stare into Juvia’s lovely blue eyes.  _ Oh… _ Maybe she  _ was _ ready to move on. And maybe Juvia was, too. 

“We can try this together, alright?” Lucy asked. 

Finally, Juvia smiled, bright and genuine. 

“Come on.” Lucy took her hand in her own. “Let’s go to my apartment. We can have some tea and talk some more.” 

“Juvia would like that.” 


End file.
